ANOTHER RECORD FOR EL GUERROUJ; JONES, GREENE, JOHNSON ALSO VICTORIOUS.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. When in Rome The phrase "When in Rome" is an abbreviation of the expression "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" which is used to advise people to adapt to the culture of places that they visit. , Hicham El Guerrouj Hicham El Guerrouj (Arabic: هشام الكروج, born September 14, 1974, Berkane) is a retired Moroccan middle distance runner. He is the world record holder for the 1,500 metres (3:26.00), the mile (3:43. breaks records. One year after setting the world record for 1,500 meters in Olympic Stadium The Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the big centrepiece stadium of the Summer Olympic Games. Traditionally, the opening and closing ceremonies and the track & field competitions are held in the Olympic Stadium. , El Guerrouj shattered the world mile record in a race in which the second-place finisher also beat the old mark. ``Rome is a magic track for me,'' El Guerrouj said Wednesday night after wowing the enthusiastic crowd with a time of 3 minutes, 43.13 seconds in the Golden Gala meet. ``I can't compare this year with last year. It's another El Guerrouj. I was more concentrated, but the public was the same.'' In becoming the first Moroccan to hold one of track and field's most hallowed records, El Guerrouj shaved 1.26 seconds off the mark of 3:44.39 set by Noureddine Morceli Noureddine Morceli (Arabic: نور الدين مورسلي) (born February 28, 1970) is a retired Algerian athlete, winner of the 1500 m run at the 1996 Summer Olympics. of Algeria on Sept. 5, 1993, at Rieti, Italy. Kenya's Noah Ngeny Noah Kiprono Ngeny (born November 2, 1978) is a Kenyan athlete, the surprise winner of the 1500 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics. History Before Sydney Ngeny first came to international prominence by setting two World Junior records in 1997 - 3:32. challenged El Guerrouj down the stretch and finished in 3:43.40, nearly a second faster than Morceli's previous record. This was only the third time in 18 years the record was broken. Both of El Guerrouj's records came at the expense of Morceli. His 1,500 record of 3:26.00 was set last July 14. The fans supported El Guerrouj, shouting and applauding noisily as he rushed to the record. El Guerrouj ran a victory lap, waving a Moroccan flag to the cheering fans. He dedicated the race to his family and to King Hassan of Morocco. ``I needed to bring some happiness to my family, as my uncle died recently,'' he said. ``I hope God continues to give me strength because I want to be the strongest in the world at all distances between 1,500 and 5,000.'' Britain's Sebastian Coe reduced the record to 3:47.33 in 1981, a mark that stood until 1985, when another Briton, Steve Cram Steve Cram MBE (born October 14 1960) is a retired English athlete. Along with fellow Englishmen Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. , lowered it to 3:46.32. Cram's time held for eight years until Morceli clipped nearly two seconds off it. After his sensational record run, El Guerrouj suggested he could lower the 1,500 record to 3:24 and run the mile in 3:41 or 3:42. Meanwhile, Marion Jones Marion Jones, also known as Marion Jones-Thompson (born October 12, 1975 in Los Angeles, California), is an American former athlete in track and field. She was the winner of five medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, which she later relinquished after extended her four-year unbeaten streak in the women's 200 meters, world record-holder Maurice Greene Maurice Greene may refer to:
Jones, undefeated in the 100, 200 and 400 this year, easily won the 200 in 22.18. ``I'm happy,'' Jones said. ``The time is not important. In competitions like this, winning is all that counts.'' Greene, the 1997 world champion, won in 9.85, only .06 seconds off the world record of 9.79 he set last month. He beat Dennis Mitchell Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is a former American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Born in Havelock, North Carolina, Mitchell placed fourth in 100 m at the 1988 Summer Olympics and missed a probable gold medal in (10.03) and Bruny Surin (10.04). Johnson, recently bothered by a quadriceps injury and competing in his first 200 in six weeks, beat Obadele Thompson of Barbados and Ato Boldon of Trinidad & Tobago, in a meet-record 19.93. ``I'm just glad I'm healthy again,'' said Johnson, who ran a season-best 43.92 in the 400 at Lausanne, Switzerland, last week. ``My focus this year is on the 400, and the 200 helps me get there.'' WORLD MILE PROGRESSIONS World mile progressions since Roger Bannister broke the four-minute barrier in 1954: May 6, 1954: Roger Bannister, Britain, 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds, at Oxford, England. June 21, 1954: John Landy, New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. , 3:58.0, Turku, Finland. July 19, 1957: Derek Ibbotson, Britain, 3:57.2, London. Aug. 6, 1958: Herb Elliott, Australia, 3:54.5, Dublin, Ireland. Jan. 27, 1962: Peter Snell, New Zealand, 3:54.4, Wanqanui, New Zealand. Nov. 17, 1964: Peter Snell, New Zealand, 3:54.1, Auckland, New Zealand. June 9, 1965: Michel Jazy, France, 3:53.6, Rennes, France. July 17, 1966: Jim Ryun, United States, 3:51.3, Berkeley. June 23, 1967: Jim Ryun, United States, 3:51.1, Bakersfield. May 17, 1975: Filbert Bayi, Tanzania, 3:51.0, Kingston, Jamaica. Aug. 12, 1975: John Walker, New Zealand, 3:49.4, Goteborg, Sweden. July 17, 1979: Sebastian Coe, Britain, 3:49.0, Oslo, Norway. July 19, 1980: Steve Ovett, Britain, 3:48.8, Oslo, Norway. Aug. 19, 1981: Sebastian Coe, Britain, 3:48.53, Zurich, Switzerland. Aug. 26, 1981: Steve Ovett, Britain, 3:48.40, Koblenz, Germany. Aug. 28, 1981: Sebastian Coe, Britain, 3:47.33, Brussels, Belgium. July 27, 1985: Steve Cram, Britain, 3:46.32, Oslo, Norway. Sept. 5, 1993: Noureddine Morceli, Algeria, 3:44.39, Rieti, Italy. July 7, 1999: Hicham El Guerrouj, Morocco, 3:43.13, Rome. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box PHOTO Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj celebrates after setting a world record in the mile, his second world record in the last year. Massimo Sambucetti/Associated Press BOX: WORLD MILE PROGRESSIONS (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion